The Valkyrie's Mark
by DerFluffy
Summary: This is a series of shorts surrounding Valkyrie and Caveira as they get to know each other as allies, as friends, and maybe more. The rating will be for action more than anything else. Cover image by toffee bit
1. Chapter 1

The smell of chlorine filled the air inside the natatorium at Rainbow's base in Herefordshire, England. The gloomy sky outside the high windows had long since darkened and the overhead lights hummed with electricity. The only other noise came from the pool where Meghan "Valkyrie" Castellano was finishing her workout. Her Olympic dreams may have been shattered years ago when her arm was broken, but even that hadn't kept her out of the water for long. She loved the way her muscles thrummed with strength when pushed to their limits. After she finished her last lap, she stood up in the water and pulled her goggles off. The large clock on the wall read that it was nearly 10:00pm. She felt herself shiver while imagining what the English autumn weather was like outside and felt a sudden need for a hot shower.

Rivulets of fiery water traced the elaborate tattoos that wrapped around Meghan's arms. She turned off the faucet and grabbed her towels, but stayed basking in the steam for a little longer. She dried herself off with one towel and wrapped it around herself before heading back to the lockers. As she ruffled her hair dry with the second towel, she walked around the corner and bumped into somebody. Confused, she pulled the towel down from her face and saw that she'd run into Taina "Caveira" Pereira, one of Rainbow's newest additions. Judging by her clothes and the frazzled condition of her thick, brown braid, she had just come in from a workout as well.

"Sorry about that," Meghan said. "I didn't hear anyone else moving around in here."

"No one hears me unless I want them to," Taina said flatly, staring into her locker as she moved things around. Meghan was surprised by how little of an accent she had and how husky her voice was. It wasn't like the male voices she'd been surrounded by her entire military career, but it was something that she looked forward to having around. She began drying her hair again.

"There are certainly some people here that could learn a lesson from you then," Meghan said with a grin hidden beneath the fabric. "Any member of Rainbow that carries a shield sounds like a freight train when they move."

When she lowered the towel, Taina had vanished but her locker was open and her shower kit was gone. Meghan whistled softly, impressed.

"Damn. She wasn't joking," she muttered to herself. She got dressed in her NAVY sweats and made her way to the racks, ready to fall asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

"Glad she's on our side."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Sorry for this being so short; this was something that I did to practice writing on a time crunch. This was only really meant to introduce Valkyrie and Caveira and get a brief idea of their character. I'm getting help with a few ideas to flesh out their relationship later, which I'm really looking forward to. Thanks to toffee_bit for all the inspiration!

-Fluff


	2. Chapter 2

"Yes…we'll be down soon. Thanks for the call, mate," Sledge put down the phone and leaned his head against the wall of his office. He pushed himself off with a fist and made his way down the hall towards the barracks.

Seamus opened the door to see Meghan Castellano, Craig Jensen, and Vicente Souza laughing at a fuming Eliza Cohen over what appeared to be an abysmal hand of poker. Seamus knew that he needed to grab the people he needed before Cohen's competitive nature dragged them back in for another hand.

"Souza, Castellano. Get dressed to leave in five. Need you to help me with something in town," he ordered.

Both operators gave a nod and pushed back from the table, despite Cohen's protests. She did quiet down after a stern look from Seamus, which got a laugh from under Jensen's bushy, black beard.

After a few minutes, Meghan, Vicente, and Seamus were in a car headed down the dark road into Hereford. Seamus' knuckles gripped the wheel tightly as he kept his eyes on the curving road.

"Got a call from the police here that your girl had caused a pretty serious row in a pub," he said to Souza. "I need you to help me bring her back. She's more likely to listen to you than me. Castellano, I need you to find any surveillance that saw what happened and clear it. Don't worry about the staff, the police will have them busy."

"Yes sir," Meghan said, wondering why Taina would have done this. She'd been a part of Rainbow for several weeks and nothing Meghan had seen in that time, nor anything in the briefing they'd all received before the BOPE operators' arrival had indicated she was the type to pick a fight with someone off the street; especially not with a civilian.

With Seamus at the wheel, it wasn't long before they arrived at the Black Lion pub in Hereford. The small street was filled with two neon yellow and blue checkered police cars and a similarly colored ambulance that was in the final stages of loading a gurney into the back. Meghan noticed their lack of hustle and was worried someone might've actually been killed in the fight, but the groans that reached her ears when they stepped out of the car put that fear to rest. The brawny man wouldn't be happy when he fully came to, but he would certainly survive. That would make their job much simpler that it would've been otherwise.

Seamus pointed her into the bar and she gave a nod and walked to the entrance. She glanced inside the police cars and caught a glimpse of Taina in the backseat, her hands cuffed and an impassive look on her face. Meghan couldn't place just what it was before she went inside, but she did notice something different about Taina's look. She had grown used to the woman's frigid outer persona, but there was something else underneath her even stare this time.

Meghan walked through the pub, past wooden chairs and tables she could only guess the age of and a pile of splinters, large and small, that she could guess were fairly newer. She slipped her way behind the backs of police officers busy assuring the only civilian inside, a livid man in that looked to be in his sixties, that things were under control and he would be compensated.

Meghan entered what appeared to be the owner's office and sat down at the computer to see what she had to work with. A sly grin crept across her face when she woke up the computer and saw that not only was it unlocked, but the owner appeared to have been showing the footage to the police as the recording was still pulled up. A few minutes later and Meghan was exiting the pub, having wiped the footage and made a copy for Seamus on a thumb drive that she kept in her jacket at all times.

Another passing glance showed Taina to still be in the backseat of the car. Meghan leaned against the trunk as she looked around for Seamus. She spotted him talking to a man that Meghan assumed was in charge of the scene. No sooner had she caught his eye, than he finished his conversation and began walking towards Meghan, but stopped almost immediately with his head cocked to the side. The sound of a metal-cased lighter snapping shut beside her made Meghan jump to the side.

Taina was standing next to her with the subtle glow of her cigarette illuminating her face as she took a long drag. Meghan looked down at her hands to see that not only was she free of the car, but free of her handcuffs as well.

"Lets' go, Pereira," Seamus called over. The Brazilian woman looked at him and saw Vicente glowering at her from the shadows behind him. Another drag and a sigh of exhaled smoke reminded Meghan of smoking with her friends in high school after her accident. Seamus looked at her again.

"We good, Castellano?" he asked gruffly.

"Yes sir. I'll tell you the rest when we get back," she replied. Satisfied for the moment, the Scotsman turned around and walked back to the car. Souza stepped forward and motioned for Meghan to follow Seamus with a nod of his head. She took the hint and left the two operators alone just in time to catch the start of a reprimanding string of Portuguese. She slid into the back of the car, took the thumb drive from her pocket, and held it out to Seamus over the shoulder of the driver's seat.

"This has everything I found on it. I didn't watch it all, but from what I did see, she worked over a group of guys twice her size. She's like a ghost in a fight, sir," Meghan commented.

"That she is. Which is why we have to find out what set her off," Seamus muttered. He thought quietly for a moment before continuing and watching out the window.

"Castellano, I'm going to ask you for something. If you say no, I won't hold it against you, but I would sleep better at night if you didn't."

"Sir?" Meghan asked hesitantly. She had come to trust all of Rainbow since she and Jensen had been invited to join, but something in the man's tone made her stomach turn.

"I want you to run surveillance on Pereira. She'll have restricted privileges for a time, so that should make things easier on you. You'd need cameras in the hall outside her bunk and in the room as well for you to monitor. She wouldn't be to leave the base alone and you would be in charge of her," Seamus finished.

Meghan was shocked. Never before had she been asked to spy on those she trusted to watch her back.

"Sir, what aren't you telling me? I agree there should be consequences for her actions, but what you're asking is leagues beyond that," she asked quietly. Seamus straightened in his seat and turned the key, firing the car to life.

"Come to my office tomorrow afternoon, I'll explain then. For now, don't mention this to anyone," he ordered quietly as the car's doors opened.

Vicente sat in the front seat, an unreadable expression on his face. Meghan noted that his emotions almost seemed easier to read when he wore the skull half-mask she'd seen him occasionally wear in the field.

Taina slid silently into the seat opposite Meghan and closed the door. Her expression had barely changed, but Meghan thought she detected the faintest hint of relief. The four of them rode back to Rainbow's HQ in silence, leaving Meghan alone with her thoughts drifting back and forth between Seamus' request and the woman across from her still laced with the nostalgic smell of smoke.


End file.
